Contents

History

Origin

Lar Gand was born on Daxam in the 20th century. He was a seeker who studied forbidden lore. Lar discovered the fate of Krypton and tracked down the rocket sent right before the planet exploded. He ended up in Smallville (without memories) and met Clark Kent who thought that they may be brothers (since Lar had spoken something about Krypton and Jor-El, and has displayed powers similar to Clark). Thinking him kin, Clark offered Lar to fashion a temporary name for himself, Mon-El ("Mon" for Monday, the day he came to Earth, "El" for Clark's real name, Kal-El).

After Mon-El and Clark met, Mon-El had dreams featuring glimpses from his forgotten past. He suggests that they may use Kryptonite to confirm if he really is a Kryptonian, and the result was negative. Mon-El instead became affected by the lead box that contained the kryptonite. He was fatally poisoned, but could now remember his past. He recalled that while he tracked down the path of the rocket, a sunspot storm ruptured his fuel cells, causing him to crash and lose his memory. At his request, Clark put Mon-El in stasis in the Phantom Zone, where he can't be hurt. Clark promised he will find a way to cure him, even if it takes a thousand years.

New Krypton and The World Without Superman

When the Kandorians were released on Earth, they trapped most of the villains from Stryker's Island prison in the Phantom Zone. In the process of recovering them, the prison authorities accidentallly exposed Mon-El to an attack by the Parasite. Seeking medical attention, he was given a temporary fix for his lead poisoning. When Superman left Earth to watch over New Krypton, he left Mon-El in the role of Metropolis' protector. At the suggestion of Martha Kent, Mon-El is using "Jonathan Kent" as a human alias, passing himself off as Clark Kent's cousin from London.

Legion of Super-Heroes and The Dominator War

In the 31st century, Saturn Girl sensed a telepathic call for help from the Phantom Zone. When she tracked the calls to their source, she sees a ghostly form resembling Lar Gand, haunting a Phantom Zone projector and begging to be released. While this is going on, the Wanderers are placing force fields around the Legion headquarters, jamming flight ring transmissions and keeping the Legionaires contained, which gives the Wanderers the opportunity to teleport Karate Kid, Light Lass, Ultra Boy and Star Boy away. Mon-El is later released from the Phantom Zone. He had suffered from 1,000 years of sensory deprivation and dying from lead poisoning which is fatal to all Daxamites. He is confused as to who put him in the Phantom Zone but recalls the "S" symbol. When he sees Supergirl, he attacks her. The two are so powerful, that their fight shatters the fore fields and frees the Legion.

When Mon-El and Supergirl fight each other, Brainiac 5 formulates an antitoxin for lead poisoning. Through the combined efforts of the Legion, and a sneak attack by Invisible Kid, Mon-El swallows the antitoxin and his rage subsides. He is then teleported away by the Wanderers. It turned out that the Wanderers manipulated the Legion into freeing Mon-El all along. With the battle between Dominator supersoldiers and the Legionnaires on Dominion, ambient lead levels were weakening him as Brainiac 5's antitoxin were fading. Later, when the Legionnaires and the Wanderers discussed who was going to deliver a bomb to the core of Dominion's star, Mon-El was suggested as a candidate, because he wouldn't survive anyway (due to the lead poisoning and Brainiac 5's inability to create more antitoxin). It was later shown that it wasn't a bomb, but a Phantom Zone projector able to transfer entire planets to the Zone (but only few people knew that, to prevent Mekt Ranzz from trying to release Mon-El). Mon-El is currently imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, waiting for Brainiac 5 to create a permanent cure for lead poisoning.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Daxamite Physiology: Lar has got powers that are native to all Daxamites if they where in a solar system with a yellow sun, similar to Kryptonians.

Longevity

Light Gravity Augmentation: Like Superboy, born on a giant world with a heavy gravity, Mon-El's muscles automatically become super-strong in Earth's light gravity. From this source, Mon-El also acquires his super-strength, super-breath, super-speed and flying.

Superhuman Strength

Superhuman Speed

Superhuman Breath

Superhuman Stamina

Flight: Mon-El can fly in speeds almost uncomprehendable to an ordinary human being.

Soler Radiation Absorption: Born under the influence of Daxam's red sun, the ultra solar rays of Earth's yellow sun can super-energize his brain and five senses to give him other, non-muscular, super-powers, such as super-senses and mental powers, x-ray vision, telescopic vision, microscopic vision, super-hearing, super-memory and super-calculations.

Abilities

Strength

Weakness

Vision Limitation: Mon-El's x-ray vision cannot penetrate lead or lead-lined walls. It also cannot penetrate inertron, the most indestructible substance in the 31st century universe. The heat of his x-ray vision cannot melt lead, unless it is a very thin lining.

Magic: Mon-El is also vulnerable to magic.

Lead: Unlike Kryptonians, whose super-powers are driven from them by the radioactive remnants of their home world, a Daxamite's major weakness is his vulnerability to lead, which does not exist on their planet. Another difference is that, while Green Kryptonite can eventually kill Kryptonians after prolonged exposure, once it is removed the pain eases and the Kryptonian's strength and powers eventually return to him/her. For Mon-El and Daxamites, any exposure to lead causes pain and weakness permanently, even after he is taken to safety. Before a cure was found, Mon-El had to stay in the Phantom Zone, without a corporal body, in order to stay alive. He was only ever able to exit the Zone permanently after Brainiac 5 invented an "anti-lead serum".